Book Review: One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

The Gist: A bachelorette-style romance that delves into the pervasive fatphobia in the US while serving a dramatic yet sweet romance that falters a bit with its distant narrative and rushed ending.

Series: Standalone

Release Date: July 7, 2020

Format: Kindle

Rating: 4-stars

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If you’ve been reading my Weekly Wraps, you’ll know I’ve been deep in a romance binge this March (albeit sprinkled with some nonfiction novels). One to Watch has been on my radar for a while; it was included in my December Wrap want-to-read list.

One to Watch follows Bea as she becomes the first fat ‘Main Squeeze’ in the book’s version of The Bachelorette. Her Twitter/blog rant about the contestants never reflecting the US’s body diversity goes viral, resulting in the new ‘Main Squeeze’ showrunner wanting to shake things up and include a more diverse cast for their new season. While the premise sounds lighthearted and fun, the reality of One to Watch is that the author doesn’t shy away from confronting the realities of Bea’s life as a fat woman or having been unrequitedly in love with her best friend for almost a decade. (Yes, you read that right, a decade.)

Multi-Media Narrative

One to Watch is narrated in the third person, from Bea’s perspective and a combination of media sources, including press releases, podcast transcripts, and social media threads, to name a few. Once I found my groove with the novel, I enjoyed experiencing what the fans were thinking; I think fan perception is one of the most exciting aspects of books that feature celebrities. The multi-media narrative was a double-edged sword; the dialogue between Bea and the rest of the cast came across as stilted and distanced in the novel’s first part. One way to alleviate this detachment was to narrate Bea’s perspective in the first person.

Perhaps the best part of this format is that it gives the reader a critical and holistic understanding of how fatphobia permeates all aspects of life.

Rampant Fatphobia

After finishing a book, one of my quirks is that I like to read its reviews (from 1-star to 4-star) to see if other readers agree with my thoughts about the book. As a result, I discovered a theme in the 3-star and below reviews. A few reviewers were annoyed that Bea wasn’t proud and confident in her body for most of the book; they wanted a happy main character with her differences. Now, this comment is totally fair. However, having Bea struggle with her self-confidence (and her journey throughout the novel is her understanding of how external fatphobia has distorted her perception of herself) gave the reader room to learn and grow with her. Fatphobia is so ingrained in our society, and it often masks itself as ‘health advice,’ which makes it even more difficult for people to understand how harmful (and wrong) it is.

If you read my ‘Representation’ tab in my reviews, you’ll see how I started describing Heroines as fat instead of plus-sized. It’s my way of challenging how society – no matter the context – associates fat with ‘bad,’ whereas for thin to be an insult, it must be contextualized in such a way. Rejecting the plus-size descriptor means rejecting the assumption that plus-sizes are not normal, especially given that women’s average clothing size in the US is 14.

The Romance(s)

One of my pet peeves is when the Heroine is unrequitedly in love with someone for almost a decade, and the Heroine ignores the friend-zone reality and creates these unhealthy fantasies that bolster their unrequited love. It’s so frustrating and basically makes me scream “THERAPIST” at my Kindle.

However, in the case of One to Watch, I admit the unrequited love angle was an excellent way for the author to explore how the Heroine’s romantic relationships are impacted by her insecurities and the fatphobia interwoven within popular culture. So, while it was incredibly frustrating to read from a character perspective, it contributed to a more dynamic plot.

I also think the author did a great job with Bea’s suitors; I constantly flipped back and forth on who I thought Bea should choose. The best part was that the author didn’t typecast any final men as caricatures; they all had their faults, which felt very realistic. I am happy that Bea ended up with the guy I would’ve chosen 😏, but it’s a testament to the book that while I really liked him, it took some convincing to be sure he was good enough for Bea.

In Conclusion

One to Watch had such great messaging throughout its story; I loved that the book included an asexual character, as it’s not an identity I’ve seen represented in “mainstream” romance novels. However, despite how much I enjoyed the story, it didn’t reach 5 stars because all the drama and Bea’s epiphanies happened so late in the book. This meant that Bea and her beau spent no time together (on page) as an exclusive couple. I wanted One to Watch to explore them as a couple to see how they’re doing without the orchestrated dates, no dramatic and emotionally eviscerating arguments… just them being cute-AF and navigating mundane relationship problems.

Buy One to Watch

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